Anne Rankin Mahoney, longtime professor of sociology at the University of Denver, passed away on September 19. She was 88 years old.
A native of Pennsylvania, Dr. Mahoney earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology from Kent State University in Ohio, a master’s degree in sociology from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and a Ph.D. in sociology from Columbia University in New York City. From 1961-1963, she was director of research for the Vera Institute’s Manhattan Bail Project, where she contributed to bail reform efforts in the United States. During this time, she taught as a sociology lecturer at Brooklyn College and Hunter College.
Dr. Mahoney went on to join the faculty at the University of Denver, where she taught for 33 years. While there, she earned a second master’s degree in applied communications. In the early 1990s, she was a key faculty member in establishing the university’s women’s studies program. She directed the program from 1992 to 1995. In 2006, she retired as a professor emeritus.
Dr. Mahoney’s research and teaching focused on family, gender, changing family structures, women’s studies, aging, crime and delinquency, and law and society. She authored both scholarly publications, such as Couples, Gender, and Power: Creating Change in Intimate Relationships (Springer Publishing Company, 2009), and creative works, including her memoir, Both Career and Love: A Woman’s Memoir 1959-1973 (Outskirts Press, 2020).